This project supports the Mali Red Cross to enhance their emergency response capacity in selected regions. Mali is vulnerable to both drought and floods, caused by the country’s dry tropical climate with highly variable alternating dry and rainy periods and the passing through of two of Africa’s major rivers. Other hazards are locust invasions, epidemics, bush fire and population movement due to conflict in the North of the country. Socio-economic and environmental factors such as people’s dependence of rain-fed agriculture, poverty (Mali ranks 176 out of 187 on the Human Development Index of 2013e), settlement in flood risk areas and environmental degradation further aggravate the impact of disasters. While data related to casualties linked to disasters are not available, the government of Mali estimated that over the last 30 years more than three million people have been affected. Building on the results and lessons learned from the Response Preparedness programme 2012-2015 (RP-I) the Response Preparedness programme 2016-2019 (RP-II) aims at achieving a better prepared response mechanism for disasters for Mali. Most activities are national – however, a specific focus will be paid to Mopti and Kayes region.

The program being a capacity building on Response and Preparedness, the beneficiaries will be the MRCS itself (recipient of capacity building trainings) and the population of Mali affected by disasters in three southern regions of Mali.